May 16 (SeeNews) - The European Commission has improved its economic growth forecast for Slovenia in 2023 to 1.2% from 1.0% predicted in February, it said.
Slovenia's economy is expected to expand by 2.2% in 2024, the Commission said in its Spring 2023 Economic Forecast report on Monday.
"Following two years of buoyant growth, private consumption is projected to continue to increase, albeit by a modest 1.75%-2% in 2023-24. Consumption will be supported by employment growth and rising wages, with the saving rate expected to slightly increase toward the pre-pandemic level," the Commission said.
Public investment is forecast to remain strong due to the expected deployment of Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF)-financed measures and of EU Cohesion Policy Funds, the EC noted.
"Despite the worsening financing conditions, enterprises are expected to invest also into productivity-enhancing technologies as labour availability is limited and wages are projected to increase rapidly," the EU's executive body said.
Inflation is expected to start moderating only from the second half of 2023 and is projected to average 7.0% in 2023 and 3.8% in 2024, the EC noted.
Slovenia's economy expanded by 5.4% last year after growing by 8.2% in 2021.